buying tractors for Canada

has anyone in The United States ever bought a tractor from Canada? how hard is it to get the tractor home?

Not hard at all, at least for me. But.... Do Not try to bring a dirty tractor back into the states., make sure it has no dirt or manure on it. Like I said ,it was just a routine crossing , both at Sault Ste. Marie and at Port Huron. Have your ducks in a row and carry photo ID and birth certificates for everyone crossing with you. I had old tractors, if you are importing late models there may be more to it. Hope this helps gh

Do you have to notify the border crossing ahead of time that you've purchased a tractor and are going to be bringing it across? Also is there any tax on tractors and farm machinery?

Yeah, I was bringing back a M-H pony and got stopped by the US customs. They made me go inside and wait about an hour until the inspector could go examine my load. When she asked "Is it clean?" I thought she meant that question like any of us would and replied that it was pretty clean, but the sheetmetal was a bit wavy in spots and it had real low oil pressure. She stared at me like I was more of a simpleton than I actually am and said "Does it have any Canadian soil on it?"
I shrugged and we went out and she poked and prodded its dark crevices until she found some 30 year old soil inside a fender.We went back inside were I pleaded that the dirt she found was surely sterile and I shouldnt have to take it back to Canada and get it pressure washed as she was insisting.
Luckily, another customs agent overheard the conversation came over and had us go out and look again then deemed it good enough and let me go WHEW! Lucky for me, a busload of 50 Amish were just arriving from a funeral in Canada and going through the customs office with not a single birth certificate among them! The customs officials needed to hurry up and clear out everybody else to deal with them. I think they are still there...
Another time I was hauling a Case VAC into Michigan and was directed by the border guard to pull around back of the customs building and into a bay to be inspected. As I rounded the first corner of the building, a semi was pulling out and I quickly pulled up tight beside him with his trailer between me and the border guard shacks blocking their view of me and simply drove around the building, accellerated up and got in front of the semi and then merged onto I-69 and went home!
Why the officials are so obsessed with the transfer of dirt from one side of the St. Clair or St. Mary"s rivers is beyond me. They claim to worry about microbial contamination, but the wind blows dirt and debris back and forth over the borders every day, to say nothing of the thousands of tons of Canadian garbage we import a day into our Michigan land fills!

No, I have never given advance notice. I don't think that really applies to private transactions, private hauling. I was hauling my tractor , with my own truck and trailer. My truck is not lettered so it will not be thought to be commercial, for profit. A rig used for commercial trade has to jump thru a few hoops I'm sure. I was very careful about chaining/ binding my load and so on. I also made sure to have a bill of sale with the serial number, sellers name address, phone number ready in case anyone asked for it. no sales tax or duty only bridge fare. The folks at the border stations were more interested in my plans for the tractors and were very friendly , I was in more of a hurry than they were , but then again ,they are hourly workers and the chit-chat probably made their day a little less boring. gh